Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS Episode 2: Storm Access

I’m so not used to Yu-Gi-Oh! coming out Wednesdays, so it feels like Mondays to me!

We learned a lot of new details such as how Speed Duels worked and differentiates from Master Duels, Yuusaku’s reasons for why he is Playmaker and were introduced a new fascinating summoning technique: Link Summon > Link Monsters.

When you are Support but your ADC tells you to shut up.

As I have been anticipating as of last week, the banter between Yuusaku and Ignis is absolutely going to be the highlight of the series. I could not stop laughing with how Yuusaku was telling Ignis to shut up, and Ignis decided to be cheeky little shit right back at him by deliberately leaving out some important details such as Skill, and indirectly set up the situation so that the enemy would throw Yuusaku into the DATA STORM, exactly where Ignis wanted him to be in the first place.

Here’s a quick run down of what you need to know:

Speed Duels:

Main Monster Zone & Magic/Trap Zone is reduced to three

Player’s first hand consists only 4 cards

No Main Phase 2.

There is a Special Rule you can only use once: Skill

Skill lets you draw a card allows you to either increase, ATK, LP and so on.

Speed Duels can be extremely vulnerable as they can be hackers can develop a new Skill Mechanism

(eg: Double Skill)

DATA STORMS are basically High Risks, High Rewards

Data Storms can kill you

If a player successfully survive being in the eye of the storm, then they can summon a random Uknown Monsters that live within the storm

The stronger the storm, the stronger the monsters

Storm Access: Only Usable when you are under 1000 LP.

Link Monsters

Do not have Levels (Instead go by Links (eg: Link 3)), and cannot be pout into defense position

Link VRAINS Catastrophic Consequences

Obstacles can deal damage to the player. If a player takes too much damage, they will experience a flashback and suffer mental damage

You can actually be killed while in Link VRAINS, so proceed with caution (eg: Fall to Death)

Yuusaku’s 3 reasons why he is Playmaker

To take back the time that was stolen from him

Save Kusanagi’s brother from darkness

In order to meet the one who gave him courage (I bet it’s Ignis!)

Last week when we saw people being deleted by Cracking Dragon, I didn’t think of their safety too much – but now after this episode, shit just got real. The fact there are many circumstances Players can actually be killed makes me wonder if we will actually see any player related deaths in this series. The first could possibly be Yuusaku’s opponent (whatever his name is) as Yuusaku just turned his back on the guy who is falling to his death. I guess I’m so used to heroes (especially after watching ARC-V) to save the bad guy from death at the last minute, but all Yuusaku cares about is resorting, “You have no right to call yourself a duelist” (damn straight, the dude attempted to literally kill him off – these villains aren’t here to play games). It’s pretty hilarious actually. I have little doubt that the guy will be killed off in just two episodes, but it would be funny if that were to be the case. Also the preview indicates that Hanoi Hackers group has no intention of messing around, so it looks like Playmaker will be forced to face Revolver-sama. Whether or not they will duel, I’m not sure- but if they do, I don’t know how i would feel about it because it wouldn’t exactly make too much sense for Playmaker to defeat one of the villains this early on, let alone Episode 3!!!!!!

What’s also incredibly fascinating and is something I hope we will see a lot more of, is the vulnerability in the Link VRAINS system. The fact the Hanoi Hackers were able to develop a skill that previously did not exist gives them the edge that would leverage the duels into their favors. While the Double Skill failed to bring the dude to victory no thanks to the Link Monster from the DATA STORM. But at the same time it’s probably also worth mentioning with Yuusaku’s hacking skills, that he could perhaps create skills on his own too. We will see if they will dare to exspand on that though because that could be counted as cheating (and only villains are allowed to cheat :P).

Furthermore, what really pipes my curiosity is the fact the Hanoi Hackers revealed they are actively trying to eliminate the Cyverse Archetypes. And to make them even more mysterious, nobody but Yuusaku, Kusanagi, Hanoi and probably SOL Technologies knew about their existence. This begs the question as to why the Hanoi Hackers are determined to eliminate this particular archetype, and what impact do the Cyverse Monsters have on Link VRAINS?

I am glad we were able to learn the reason why Yuusaku has embraced the role as Playmaker. We were told two of the reasons last week, and today we were given the third: To meet the one who gave him courage.
Now I already have a couple of theories going on in my head. One of them suspects Yuusaku met the one who had given him courage during the time that was stolen from him (which is probably a given). At this time I believe it’s either Ignis or one of his AI buddies. And seeing how Yuusaku and other children were being carried out by a rescue team (and given that Kusanagi’s brother is ‘trapped in darkness’, it seems to imply there are more who have yet to be found), it makes me wonder if the the incident Yuusaku claims had his time stolen from him had something to do with the Cyverse. If this is the case, this probably would explain why Yuusaku subconsciously understands how Speed Duels works (as foreshadowed in the first episode), and would explain how he got his hands on the Cyverse Archetypes in the first place. So this begs the question of what is Cyverse, and how did Yuusaku get caught up into this incident in the first place? Either way, this event clearly had some sort of impact on his views in regards of dueling, implying it must have been a traumatic event for him.

This would also further explain Yuusaku’s behavior, his sharpness and maturity. He is so cool under-fire, he is an intelligent player who pays attention to not just the cards, but to his opponent’s behavior and body-language as well. It is through that he can get some information on his opponent. Yuusaku definitely seems to be the type of character who can play mind-games very well.

Uff, he is so cool.

The one thing I would like to find out however is whether or not these Link Monsters, once drawn can be kept as a keepsake. Decode Talker shows up in the Opening Theme, so I would think it is safe to assume he gets to keep the monsters he pulls out. Well we will find out soon enough!

There was one little underrated moment I liked and that was Playmaker being saved by Blue Angel. I wasn’t expecting it, but I liked her explanation of returning the favour. I know I shouldn’t get too attached, but I already like this girl! ; A ; Welp…

Lastly: Can we take a moment to appreciate the modern update of the Stats signs? It looks awesome!

Next Week: Looks like Playmaker has drawn unwanted attention to himself. After this fight, he’s in the spotlight and not just the enemies are pissed off, but the vetran players are jelly as f. I’m looking at you, yellow dude.

17 Responses

I am so looking forward for more Yusaku and Ignis interactions! Both of them are a complete opposite with each other, but this type of duo usually ends up being the best duo! The moment Blue Angel saved Playmaker, the more I love her! To be honest I’m not really too fond of her design because I think it was too cute to my liking. But I’m getting used to it now and I’m sure she’ll be wonderful! After this episode, the Playmaker x Blue Angel ship increased XD

In the flashback, the voice of the person who was calling out for child Yusaku when Yusaku mentioned his third reason, it doesn’t sound like Ignis since the voice was totally different (and it’s the same voice from the beginning of the first episode when Yusaku woke up from his sleep after class). Or it could be Ignis but at that time he was in different form or something. Or in twists common in anime/manga, it’s actually the antagonist himself before something happened that led them to become enemies now.

You pretty much summed up my opinion on the episode, especially the comment on Blue Angel (really hope this series tries its female characters well, at least better than ARC-V did), and I’m happy to see the show get off to such a great start. It looks like this is a show that might care more about telling the story than selling the cards.

BTW, do you think it’s any coincidence that the number of different colored birds in the opening, the number of AIs, and the number of kids (including Yusaku) being rescued are the same (6)? Maybe it’s going to be a pattern (done by the 6th series).

And what if Aoi (Blue Angel) and Go, and maybe even Revolver, were among those kids?

Yes I do think there might be a possibility that Blue Angel, Go and even Revolver may be among those kids who were involved in the incident. If Revolver were to be one of them, it would definitely play a part in explaining his motives of why he is determined to eliminate Cyverse Archetypes and potentially the “space” itself if possible. And if that’s the case, it would also explain why he would need Ignis.

At the same time, the AI’s we seen in the first episode, including Ignis himself could possibly be a part of these kids. Maybe it’s the piece of them that was loss – that might be stretching it though. It’s only episode 2 and I’m already going crazy with my speculations! LOLOLOLOL!

eva while i like the speed duals what i worried about the most is if the skill/s thing will turn out to be action cards number 2 but on the other hand i dont think so since they can activate it only once per dual

THANK GOD they had made the rule it can only be used under certain conditions and once per deal. My fear however – someone hacks that shit so they could do it multiple time. They did establish the fact the system is incredibly vulnerable.

Y’know, considering Speed Duels are going to be the norm in VRAINS, I found Yusaku’s debut duel to be rather SLOW-paced and they already given him a way (Storm Access) to burst out new Link monsters in case he was driven into a pinch. This complain aside, I enjoyed him and Ignis trash-talking with each other, learning the grim fate of victims in Links VRAINS (a straight DEATH), Yusaku’s motivations behind his actions and a rare moment of Blue Angel saving the Playmaker to repay the earlier favor. That said, both SOL Tech & Knights of Hanoi are definitely going to gang up on Yusaku soon because Ignis is now in his custody. VRAINS is off to a solid start, and this show can’t turn out bad… right?

Good to know it wasn’t just me who thought that. I as like, “Wait a minute, Yusaku barely had any turns and it’s already half-way through the episode!” It it’s pretty obvious they were dragging it out for the sake of the Data Storm arrival.

Now I will like to see whether Yusaku can break the curse of the protagonists losing in the first 10 episodes or not. Yugi lost to Pegasus in episode 2; Judai lost to Der Kaiser in episode 8; Yusei lost to Jack in episode 2 (in a flashback); Yuma lost to Shark in episode 10; Yuya lost to Yuzu in episode 2.

And here’s another news: The VAs of Yuto & Yugo (the Takagi twins) are stepping down from further VA roles in the future while Reiji’s VA is currently in hiatus because of overwork which required him to treat his throat through monthly medications.

The relationship between Yusaku and Ignis almost seems to be Yuma and Astral DONE RIGHT.
I love the back and forth between their contrasting personalities, but the main point is that it did not grate on me like Yuma did with Astral, namely because Ignis is mischievous, not dumb like Yuma was.
As long as the Skill and Data Storm ideas aren’t over-used as a bailout like Action Cards are then I’d say the idea could grow on me quickly; since it can only be used once per duel and there is some sort of risk involved.
Vrains continues to look good, the duel this episode was good and there is enough mystery to keep me watching.
Keep up the good work Eva.

While I am glad Skill and Data Storm concrete rules have been established, I do worry about them being tampered by hacking methods. The fact the writers has set up the system to be vulnerable definitely gives them the wiggleroom to do so.

Usually I just read the reviews but I have to say, I really hope that you stay on Vrains Eva. It seems like it has such a story to tell and I really want to be able to see/read what you have to think about it.

Speed duels might be cool but honestly… I’m not a fan. The fact that they’re limited to 3 main monster zones and spell and trap card zones just sucks (does this mean that pendulum players only have 1 spell and trap card zone when they set up their scales?). It also limits the way that they can even use link monsters because of the ways that they’re arrows point to different zones. Also unless I’m wrong it also means that if Yusaku ends up having put a field with Decode Talker and any other monster in its only link marker then that means he can’t bring out firewall dragon (this part was probably irrelevant and wont happen though…). It also means that he can’t bring up Decode talker to its highest atk value using its eff.

Regarding the one that helped Yusaku when he was young, I have a feeling it was an earlier version of Ignis. Probably a version of his A.I. from before he turned into the snarky bastard that he is now. Oh man, I really hope we get Ignis and Yusaku banter outside of Link Vrains.

[I’m a fan of Blue Angel’s design. But unfortunately I have a feeling she’s going to be the next Akiza. Kicked aside by a male who has no right being in the story anyway the first chance they get]

Sidenote: am I the only one that isn’t a fan of those duel disks that just use cards from a could? I don’t know, I just much prefer the look of people physically drawing cards from their duel disks.

On one hand, Mr. super-famous Playmaker defeat the first mook he fought on-screen with a card not originally in his deck. Yay. Magically pulling cards from thin air is YGO anime standard by now, but must he use it against the very first mook? Really?

On the other hand, the evil-Vietnamese-of-the-week had a really lucky starting hand. And Yuusaku did show some skills in setting up for Link Summon. The “its attack can only be reduced by 100” line is real smart.

Speed Duels were a surprise, but I think I could get used to them. It’ll be weird not to have characters end their turns by setting cards anymore and starting with 4 cards but we’ve gotten used to weirder stuff (ie Action Cards). The way they mentioned “Master Duels”, which I assume are standard duels, I assume there will be some duels conducted on foot in the show where the normal rules are used, similar to 5Ds with its Riding Duels.
I too was excited to see Aoi save Yusaku! I’m glad she got to return the favor because her being damseled so early kinda rubbed me the wrong way last episode. Not that I have my hopes up given the cast, mind you, but whatever.
The fact that Yusaku is the only one who physically holds his cards and has a duel disk with a blade on it is cool and endearing to me, I don’t really like the wristlets everyone else seems to have. But on the other hand, you’d think that would make it pretty easy for that kid from the last episode to identify him
I also don’t know what Yusaku’s obsession with the number 3 is, and maybe it’s just a quirk in his personality, but it’ll probably play into his deductions later on and how he explains his thinking (which is something we’ll see a lot of I assume). His past is exciting though and Kusanagi’s brother who is “trapped in darkness” gives me a real Kiryu vibe, so I’m excited for that too
As one last note, I’m so glad Yusaku is a competent duelist. He didn’t need to rely on Decode Talker or Ignis to fight, he was able to make a strategy on his own at first. He used Storm Access to win, yes, but I think he would have found another way even without it. The only thing that bugs me is that he gets a new link monster every time his LP hits under 1000, which might mean his deck is gonna get really crowded really quickly and he might not have any cards that have a personal attachment to him like the previous ace monsters, and it also means he’ll end up in low LP more often than he needs to for it
Also the fact that he loses Ignis if he loses a duel meaning he’s probably never going to lose a duel unless it’s against someone who doesn’t really want to take it from him (ie Kusanagi)

I kind of find it a bit funny of how much risk there is in a speed duel like you can possibly die or get a coma should you lose.

I didn’t mind the Skill much(tfw Double Draw is basically a free Pot of Greed). Thought I will have to wait for translation to know if Yusaku did a Skill for Decode Talker or something else.

I’m getting a lot more interested in Yusaku and his past. Aoi/Blue Angel returning the favor by helping Yusaku was pretty nice.

I also like the dynamics of the characters as well based on the situation. Yusaku claims Ignis as his hostage making the banter believable at best and pretty interesting as well as great to know what it may lead later on. Where with Yuma and Astral, Yuma was a noob at the time and made a bunch of mistakes where listening to Astral was basically the only way for him to win but the formerly isn’t stubborn and reckless. But they’re later professed into a decent pair(at least in opinion).

It also goes back to their individual interest. Yusaku wants to use Ignis and considers him nothing but a tool(to the point where he threatened to delete him in the previous episode) and Ignis even stated the only reason he’s helping him is basically he has no choice and wants to make it out alive.